What we told Parliament’s Health Committee, October 2012

In June 2011, NPWA submitted evidence to Parliament’s Commons Committee on Health who were consulting on Public Health. We now have permission to publish our submission. Here is a summary of what we told them – fluoride is not an essential nutrient, fluoridation is unethical, there is no high-quality scientific evidence to show that fluoridation is either effective or safe, indeed, fluoridation is harmful. Regardless of fluoridation status, similar declines in tooth decay have occurred in many countries since the 1970s. Fluoridation is wasteful as shown in our pie-chart ‘Where Southampton’s Water Goes’. Fluoridation does not reduce inequalities in dental health and actually disadvantages the poor who cannot afford costly treatment for dental fluorosis.